Article : Plotting Your Course On The WFO Maturity Model

Companies seek strategies and
solutions that will evolve and mature as they do. Today, the market holds both
foundation-level and strategic offerings to help them progress through the WFO
continuum to extend business value.

For instance, at an operational
level, centres are focused on optimising CSR performance. In the process, they
may be working under constraints, such as bare essential infrastructures and
cost controls. And they may face the challenge of matching demand with
resources, retaining effective CSRs, prioritising coaching/training and
delivering consistent customer experiences. Leveraging WFO, and such
pre-packaged components as basic forecasting and scheduling, voice/screen
capture/recording, evaluations and best practice training, enables them to focus
on reducing risk, decreasing average handle time, improving quality scores,
driving down average speed to answer, ensuring adherence and managing occupancy.

At a more advanced level,
centres are focused on optimising contact center performance. They face
the challenge of balancing productivity with quality, increasing
centre-driven revenue, standardising service across touch points and
growing transaction complexities. These centres are examining such
metrics as first call resolution, shrinkage, up-selling and
cross-selling, and customer satisfaction driven though the contact
centre. WFO pre-packages that bundle forecasting and scheduling,
adherence, business rules driven recording, lesson management, and
agent/organisational scorecard functionality – for example – are paving
the way to a uniform contact centre experience, flexible scheduling and
the initiation of a performance improvement culture.

In progressing through
the WFO maturity model, some may concentrate on differentiating
themselves through customer service. This strategic level centres on
such metrics as root cause analysis and overall customer satisfaction as
drivers for success, as well as driving proven processes into the back
office and enterprise. At this strategic point in the WFO maturity
cycle, companies may opt for added functionality that enables
competency-based learning, speech analytics and an expanded view of
performance. What they get in return is a centre that's aligned with the
rest of the enterprise – one that's able to maximise efficiency and
effectiveness, and facilitate proactive collaboration with the rest of
the organisation.

At the top of the WFO
alignment pyramid is the visionary level, where optimising virtual
service performance comes into play. Those that approach their business
based on this model are furthering the trend of at-home agents and the
virtual workforce by leveraging their VoIP infrastructures. What they're
measuring is more forward-thinking, as well: customer loyalty, top-line
revenue, customer service operation margins and earnings per share.

There's no right or wrong
stage to be at on the model. Regardless of a company's size and
requirements, it's a progression that's there to be taken when the
organisation is ready. Simply put, WFO offers the functionality to meet
their needs today and a growth path as their goals evolve.

Upcoming Events

The Call and Contact Centre Expo is Europe’s leading event for forward-thinking contact centre and customer experience professionals, showcasing the latest tools, strategies and innovations that are shaping the future of the industry. On the 21st and... Read More...